Renewable fuels association rebuts AP's ethanol article

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 2:38 PM

The Associated Press "ignored the facts" in an investigative piece on the ethanol industry that was published by AP members nationwide today, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, whose parent organization issued a fact check on the article. "The AP narrative that the Renewable Fuel Standard and ethanol has led to super high corn prices, which in turn led to bad farming practices and environmental degradation simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny," IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw said in a press release. "Unlike this AP story would have you believe, the vast majority of Iowa's farmers are incredible stewards of the land and work to improve every year," Shaw said. According to the article, U.S. farmers planted 15 million more acres in corn last year than before the ethanol boom, which the article said has taken 5 million acres out of conservation reserves.